Fragtrapped

My virtual gaming ADD, which lately has seen me unable to settle on playing a specific game, has finally settled down.  Last week I wrote about how I was hopping around a few different games with no real dedication to one title.  Strangely, after I had written that post, I ended up feeling a weird pull toward a very unlikely title that I've always felt more than a little ambivalent about--Borderlands:  The Pre-Sequel.  I decided that I would start it up and see exactly where I had left off and go from there.

Claptrap is basically a rolling roulette wheel.

My new-old B:TP-S game had ended on a playthrough with a level 6 Claptrap--yes, I had decided to stop playing as the world's most annoying robot.  Being at level 6 was perfect for where I wanted to start--it wasn't a brand new playthrough so I didn't have to drool through all the tutorials, but there were still a few left to help refresh my memory after a long period away.  I decided to stick with Clappy and keep going.

As one of the vault hunters, Claptrap offers a bit of variety.  He doesn't really have a set action skill and, according to the game, his software helps him analyze the situation and pick the best choice for a specific situation.  After vaulthunter.exe has finished its analysis, you could wind up with any number of abilities popping up such as:

1.) Funzerker--Clappy will wield two weapons and fire constantly for the duration of the action.  This is inspired by the gunzerker character and skill from Borderlands 2.  It's a huge ammo drain, but it's handy for clearing out large groups of enemies or throwing down a bunch of damage on a badass.

2.) Meat Unicycle--Clappy takes on a psycho personality and wields a melee weapon.  Melee damage is massively increased and you cannot use your guns.  Mostly, you get shot a lot.

3.) Miniontrap--Clappy turns invisible and drops a smaller claptrap that can shoot rockets.  This ability is very useful for low-health situations.  Being invisible means you aren't getting attacked and your mini-minion actually does a decent amount of damage.

4.) Mechromancer--A mini-mechcromancer minion flies around and attacks enemies for the duration of this skill.  It's good for groups of enemies.

5.) Blightbot--Another mini-minion that is similar to the mechromancer but that flies around dealing corrosive and fire damage.

6.) Rubber ducky--Clappy is riding a giant rubber duck and will bounce in the air for the duration of the skill.  Bullets are deflected so it's sort of like a short period of invincibility...but it's really hard to attack when you're bouncing in the air.

There are probably some that I'm missing, but the point is that Claptrap's action skill is a total toss up and you never know exactly which one you're going to get.  It definitely keeps you on your toes and does offer some humor and variety.

Claptrap's talents also seem to be built around making everything completely chaotic.  One tree offers the ability to gain a fire and reload speed (and possibly damage) buff but the type of weapon changes every 100 seconds.  I took this talent and am constantly switching weapons--it's kind of fun and doesn't allow you to settle on a specific weapon type.

It's very odd that I settled back on The Pre-Sequel because I've found it to be one of the weaker entries in the series.  They tried to spice the game up by adding in low-gravity, freeze weapons, butt slamming, and lasers, but all these minor novelties can't make up for the boring story that is lacking the fun characters from the other games.  For some reason, I've been more entertained than in my past playthroughs--maybe the chaos of Clappy is just right?

Whatever the reason, I'm planning on finishing the final missions with my friendly little Claptrap.  Sometimes the weirdest games just have a way of grabbing you.